CANANDAIGUA — Ontario County Industrial Development Agency members decided Monday to take a closer look at plans to build Fishers Ridge, a 96-acre, mixed-use “super regional center” on Route 96 in Victor. At their Sept. 23 meeting, members voted to spend no more than $30,000 to have an six- to eight-week independent study prepared by consultant Peter Fairweather, to help them determine whether the project should receive financial incentives.

Representatives of The DiMarco Group — President John DiMarco II, Vice President Paul Colucci, and Baldwin Real Estate President Bill Durdel — appeared before the county IDA at its meeting in Canandaigua to give an update on the project and make an informal application for a sale/leaseback program and a tax-exempt bond financing program.

“Mostly we’re seeking conceptual buy-in for Fishers Ridge, that it is truly a transformative project for this town,” Durdel said in an introduction.

Fishers Ridge, Durdel said, would include retail, restaurants, entertainment, residences, hotels and office space, as well as 3,200 feet of road frontage on Route 96. It would be accessible to the public and have outdoor features such as parks, trail systems, ponds and waterfalls. The residential component — all rental — would be “work force housing” in the moderate to high price range.

DiMarco said the village environment would include second-floor high-tech office space, which would access Ontario County's high-speed fiber optic ring. "Class A space," he said, "is determined by infrastructure, not décor."

Benefits

The project, Durdel told IDA members, would generate about 1,703 permanent full-time jobs, as well as an estimated 1,785 full-time construction jobs.

“Current town, county and school taxes on the undeveloped property are $46,000,” Durdel said. “On completion of the project they are projected to be $232,000,000, with annual sales tax revenue to Ontario County expected to be $4,500,000.”

Durdel outlined several contributions the new development could bring to not only Ontario County, but Victor, including strategic road connections that address existing Route 96 corridor traffic issues, and new public roadways to support local traffic.

Of special interest to Victor Supervisor Jack Marren and IDA members was the potential for real-time messaging for motorists traveling Route 96 that would warn them when traffic was congested; and traffic monitoring to control signal lights remotely during peak hours and when needed. Both were among benefits Colucci suggested Fishers Ridge could bring.

Colucci also told IDA members about an alternative traffic pattern that could ease the strain and congestion on Victor’s residential Lane Road, which connects Route 96 with High Street. A proposed public roadway in Fishers Ridge would connect Route 96 to High Street, funneling traffic away from Lane.

Obstacles to overcome

Victor Planning Board Chair Joe Logan said in a recent interview that the project has been before his group in several forms since its conception. The main obstacles to date, he said, are the size of the development and impacts to the natural resources on the site, as well as impacts to traffic on the Route 96 corridor, High Street and other intersections in the area. The impact Fishers Ridge boutiques might have on businesses in the village of Victor should also be a consideration, he said.

Page 2 of 2 - Logan pointed to the need for connectivity with, and realignment of, Lane Road to the intersection of Route 251, along with limitations of the capacity of the sewer system and needed upgrades.

“The cost of infrastructure improvements needed for the growth in the corridor — and how they will be paid for — should be considered by all parties when reviewing all aspects of this project,” Logan said. “The ball is in their court — both financially and to conform to our comprehensive plan requirements.”

Marren told IDA members he did not see these improvements as the sole responsibility of either the developer or the town.

“A partnership needs to be established and changes to both roadways and sewer need to take place for all of us to realize a full potential build-out,” said Marren. “I think there’s an advantage for us as well — it’s a give-and-take relationship that I envision.”

Durdel believes when Fairweather sees all the research that The DiMarco Group has already gathered, his evaluation will be simplified. “It's ripe and we're ready,” he said.

“Between now and the end of the year, this is coming and will continue through,” said DiMarco. “We do have multiple interested parties, and the question for them is ‘when can you deliver?’ Whether it's one or two years, we need to begin to put a date out there.”